Michigan State football and Michigan State athletics as a whole are going through a substantial, meaningful evolution right now. Between new head football coach Pat Fitzgerald and new athletic director Dan Bartholomae, there is a lot of change taking place in East Lansing. It will be important for the future of the program that Fitzgerald and Bartholomae see eye-to-eye, and at least for right now, it seems like they are more than aligned.
In last week's loss to Illinois, there was a frustrating moment when the Spartans kicked an onside kick, recovered it successfully, but Samson Gash, the player who recovered the ball, was called offsides, although it was obvious upon seeing the replay that he was not offsides. In the chaos that followed, Pat
Fitzgerald, at one point, stuck out his middle finger at the referees in frustration, then proceeded to fire up the Spartan crowd.
Michigan State athletic director had no issue with the action, saying, according to the Detroit News: 'We are not sitting here trying to be choir children.'
MSU AD Dan Bartholomae tells @TonyPaul1984 he had no issue with Pat Fitzgerald’s middle finger last Saturday. In fact, Dan appreciated how it got the crowd riled up.
— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) October 16, 2026
"We are not sitting here trying to be choir children”@detroitnews pic.twitter.com/BMWUarsvFe
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU athletic director defends Pat Fitzgerald middle finger
